GOD SAVE THE YOUNG WOMEN!!!

I couldn’t help but notice that the authors of these “manuals” were of course, men. Aside from this observation, one of the major questions that arose in my head while reading the Orlin piece was “Why this amount of pressure put on such young women, why not just let them be just that?” Of course, the answer would be, as Orlin said, that people during this age did not understand childhood and especially adolescence . The women were constantly being warned against such things as an over-abundant “appetite” and constantly reminded of their role as a wife or a daughter. When we examine what is going on with Frankford and his giving attitude, we must keep in mind that this is exactly the role of which women were supposed to fill during this time. Women were expected to give to charity, and refuse their own needs. The overall reason I justified this role reversal was by reminding myself that Anne had in fact “sinned” against her husband, having a relationship with the guest of the house. In this case, Anne can only expect forgiveness or self redemption by denying herself of all that is necessary to sustain life. It is somewhat besides the point, but an extremely strong correlation, when Frankford embraces Anne’s pitiful corpse at the end of the play. Anne can now be seen for the dead piece of property she is, after committing adultery.